Defining Wisdom

The Arete Initiative at The University of Chicago is pleased to announce a $2 million research program on the nature and benefits of Wisdom. In 2008, up to 20, two-year research grants will be awarded to scholars from institutions around the world who have received their Ph.D. within the past 10 years. Letters of Intent are due November 19, 2007. Example projects might include:

Wisdom in the context of risk and uncertainty; wisdom in the context of real-world unknowables;

Wisdom in the context of social norms;

Finding new wisdom in the context of optimization models in biology and computer science;

New wisdom in the context of changing of ethical systems and law;

Wisdom in selecting subjective preference weights in the context of economic models;

The art of balancing long-term and short term considerations and trade-offs;

Wisdom in the design of institutional structures;

New ways to learn/teach emerging kinds of wisdom;

Wisdom in nature;

Wisdom in the practice of compassion (forgiveness, international aid programs, etc.)